Playing Pretend
by wordsofawitheringwriter
Summary: When the head of the FBI has no other option but to send three of his best agents into deep, undercover work, Lucy Heartfilia finds herself enlisted in a new assignment that involves a new brother, a missing agent, some heavy photoshop and… a ring on her left hand. Her wedding finger to be exact. FakeMarriageTrope!nalu
1. Did You Get the Memo?

**a/n: this story has already been written up to about chapter 11(ish?) so it should have a pretty frequent updating schedule (yay!). I'll be posting a new chapter every two days, so expect the next update sometime in the afternoon on Saturday! Happy reading! I hope you all enjoy the direct result of me watching WAY too much Numb3rs/Criminal Minds, haha**

disclaimer: I own nothing

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"Enough of these games, old man, we all know why we're here," a man said lazily while rubbing at his tired eyes. Both his poor posture and body language reflected his obvious fatigue as he folded his arms over his chest. Dark blonde hair fell sloppily over his right eye, hiding the healing scar above his brow. He reclined back into the wooden chair so that the two front legs hovered in the air.

"Seven of my people were killed and two are _missing_ , Sawyer!" Chief Makarov barked, becoming agitated at the lack of response from the two criminals across the table. The small man smacked his hands on the desk in front of him. It'd been a long day of interrogation for both the agents and the criminals in the room, and everyone's patience was wearing thin.

Agent Scarlet leaned against one of the far walls closest to the door, one hand in her pocket and the other resting on her hip. Hidden by the suit's jacket, her fingers just barely brushed the handle of her gun with every breath she took. Her eyes scanned the room carefully, watching the situation unfold and growing bored. They'd spent hours inside this interrogation room with little to show for. Much to everyone's frustration, they'd yet to obtain any new information from the mob boss' two associates.

"Actually," Cobra said slowly, his voice sounding vaguely amused. "I _don't_ know why I'm here. Your people, _Dreyar_ , went after ours." He spit the Chief's name, causing the vain to pop out of the older man's neck as his face grew redder and redder. "Our people happened to come out of the scuffle alive while yours happened to, well," the man smiled maliciously, chuckling darkly to himself. "They weren't so lucky. So, I suggest you either teach your people better offense, or teach them how to retreat when it is so _blatantly_ obvious the targets have a great defense."

Agent Scarlet's ears perk as her gaze fell on the lean man across the room. His hair was buzzed, a part of his latest alias, and his green contacts made his brown eyes appear an almost light hazel. This was the first time the man had said more than a couple words in the last several hours. He too crossed his arms, the heavily detailed snake tattoo becoming even more pronounced along his bicep.

Cobra continued, his voice low and his mouth seemingly fixed in a permanent sneer as his cold gaze fell onto the chief. "Business is business, you see."

"When lives are at stake, I don't believe the same principles apply," Chief spat. Cobra just laughed, and the deep sound sent shivers down the agent's back.

"Oh, but Gramps," he smirked, leaning forward in his chair and resting his hands on the desk, eyes narrowing at the small man in front of him, "they _do_."

Without warning, the criminal pushed his chair away from the desk and jumped from his chair, picking up the lamp from the table and slamming it into Chief's nose—effectively knocking the old man out. Every agent in the room sprang to life, making a move to grab their guns from the holster on their hip, but the two goons on the run were already sprinting for the door.

Erza was ready for them, standing guard by the only exit with both arms outstretched, aiming the gun. The shot was lined up just right, the barrel pointed straight at the blond one's kneecap. Her finger was already pulling back the trigger when someone knocked into her from behind, shoving the agent into a wall and crushing her arm between herself and the brick wall causing the bullet to go off-course—straight into the only light fixture hanging from the tiled ceiling.

Darkness consumed the room, yet chaos still ensued.

* * *

Lucy's cellphone buzzed noisily on her hip as she the entered the office building through the automatic sliding doors. She passed the Styrofoam cup she was holding over to her left hand after stuffing the badge back into her shoulder bag, already having showed it to the security guard at the gate.

"I know, I know. I'm late," she said, answering the phone while hurrying for the elevator. "Hold it open please!"

A man stuck his arm out and stopped the doors from closing all the way, and Lucy smiled in thanks as she stepped on. She quickly pressed the button for the eighth floor with her thumb before returning her attention to the phone. "I'm hurrying," she lied. "I promise!"

The person on the other end sighed, and Lucy could just picture the woman rolling her eyes. "You have a meeting with the boss this morning, Lucy. Or did you forget? Again."

Lucy huffed, glaring at her reflection in the elevator door since she couldn't glare at the redhead in person. "If I remember right, which I usually do, I was only late because _someone_ forgot to forward me the memo!"

"I _did too_ forward you that reminder and your irresponsible ass just-" Lucy heard her take a deep breath. "Okay, forget it. Point is you're late, _again_ , and I need to talk to you before the meeting. I'll be waiting for you when you step off the elevator, 'kay?"

"Wait," Lucy said, waving politely as the man who held the door open for her stepped off. The door closed behind him, leaving the blonde to herself as she was still three floors away from her stop. "What do you have to talk to me about?"

There was no response, however, and pulling the phone away Lucy could see the call had been ended.

"Great," she groaned, rubbing at her forehead with her free hand once she deposited the cell back into her bag. She could already feel the signs of a migraine coming on.

True to her word, Erza was there to meet her when the elevator doors slid open, a thick manila folder tucked underneath one arm while the other was-

Lucy raised an eyebrow at the sling, but the woman only shrugged.

"There was a slight complication at the interrogation process yesterday. Nothing too worrisome except for-" she was cut off when a door at the end of the hall burst open and Chief Makarov stomped out looking furious, his face even more red and sweaty-looking than usual.

"Meeting begins in five!" he barked, wincing when the motion jarred his bruised nose.

 _Wonder how he got that shiner,_ Lucy frowned when she saw his newly obtained black eye.

He continued, "Those who will be attending should have received the memo early this morning—you know who you are!"

Lucy cringed when he slammed the door back closed again, the action causing the bulletin board on the adjacent wall to shake.

"You think if I skipped the meeting I could use the ancient excuse of not getting the notice?" Lucy mumbled under her breath, looking over to her friend. "I mean, it happened once before, right? Who's to say it couldn't happen again."

Erza rolled her eyes. "Yes, like that'll work.

Lucy's shoulders slumped forward as they began walking down the hall in the direction of the conference room.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she sighed. "Seriously though, he looks even more upset than usual. What do you think happened?"

The redhead looked thoughtful as she scrunched her nose.

"Well," she said, "the only thing I can think of would involve what happened yesterday, but that shouldn't have anything to do with your-" Erza's usual long, confident strides faltered, eventually slowing to a stop and causing Lucy to have to backtrack.

"Erza?"

Her eyes are opened wide as she stood frozen, staring at nothing while deep in thought.

Lucy tried again, waving her hand in her friend's face.

"Erza!"

The woman's gaze shifted back to the blonde when she heard Lucy calling for her. However, she still didn't answer what was bothering her. Instead, she hurriedly transferred the folder from under her good arm to the one held up by the sling. She surprised Lucy by grabbing her shoulders, pulling her close and giving a quick shake to ensure the blonde was paying attention.

"Listen to me carefully, Lucy, okay? I have to go _right_ now, but meet me at my desk as soon as the meeting ends, got it? Tell me you understand," Erza's eyes searched hers, waiting for verbal confirmation. "This is serious."

Lucy nodded her head—alarmed—but when she was about to ask the redhead to explain further, the woman was already sprinting and dodging people on her way back to the elevators, leaving Lucy to walk alone to the conference room.

Opening the door to the room Lucy noticed that, besides Chief, she was the first to arrive. Makarov nodded his head towards one of the seats as she walked in, to which she hurried to sit down. Many seats surround the large table that took up most of the spacious room, but despite this only three folders were laying in front of him.

"Take a seat, agent. The other two should be joining us shortly." Lucy nodded and pulled out the chair directly opposite of him, and he proceeded to slide one of the folders across the table so that laid it in front of her. She didn't touch it though, the look on Chief's face telling her to wait until the others arrive.

And they do not long after—their arrival making the blonde's blood run cold.

"Sorry we're late, Gramps," a man said, sounding slightly winded. "We had a bit of a misunderstanding with my name badge and security." His voice came from behind Lucy, but she didn't need to turn around to know who the voice belonged to.

"And by that," another voiced piped up, "he means he lost it."

" _Not_ lost. Misplaced."

Chief sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose—wincing as he forgot about the break—and he motioned for the others to join them at the table. "We'll discuss getting you a new badge later, Dragneel. As of right now, would you and Mr. Fullbuster be so kind as to sit so we can begin?"

"'Course, sir."

Lucy bit her lip to hold back the groan as the door closed behind the pair and their footsteps grew closer. Both chairs on either side of her were pulled out, and Lucy cringed.

 _Why did I choose the middle?_

"As you three are familiar with," Chief began once the two men were comfortable, "the Orecion Seis are strong and far-reaching. They have their hands in everything from drug trafficking to money laundering to possible terrorist connections. We've had a hand in them for years, aware of where they frequented, of their front businesses, and we even managed to capture their faces thanks to global satellites and our profound research team."

The three agents nodded their heads accordingly, and Lucy tried to refrain from yawning. She'd known this for months now, ever since the case had first been presented to her department when the threat began to grow out of hand.

"As of late, we managed to capture Cobra and his accomplice, Sawyer." He waited for the agents to nod their heads once more, which the other two did, but Lucy waited. Biting the inside of her cheek, she narrowed her eyes at the man across the table.

Something was off.

"Well, you see," the older man pursed his lips, folding his hands on the table and seeming to struggle to find the right words. "During the interrogation process yesterday, they managed to fleece us."

There it was.

" _What_?" The man to Lucy's left sat up straight, his hands grasping the seat's handles so tight that his knuckles turn white.

"How did they manage that?" demanded the one with the startling shade of pink hair. "Where the hell was Scarlet at?"

Lucy opened her mouth to defend her friend, but was cut off.

Chief held up his hands, silencing our protests. "That is unimportant as of right now, because this is where you three come in. The interrogation process wasn't a complete bust, understand. We managed to find out that they've been expanding their "business" to larger cities and have grown their network of loyalists'. People you'd never guess to be involved now are. The Oercion Seis has quickly become one of the most powerful and dangerous groups in organized crime.

"We need people on the inside," he continued, suddenly sounding exhausted and twenty years older, which was saying a lot. "I'm talking deep cover." He nodded his head toward the three manila folders on the table. "This is where your new mission starts. Since you're going to be jumping right in, I thought it would be best to put you together as a team."

Lucy placed her hand on top of the folder but left it on the table, staring at the bland color as the chief went on.

"Now, there won't be any agents on the other end of the wire to swoop in if things get tough or go wrong and you need help. This is a full-on, fully immersed cover mission. You must study and adapt to the lifestyle explained in the files currently held in your hands. You three will have each other and that is it, understood?"

They each mumble a collective, "Yes sir," and Lucy snuck a quick peek to the man to her right—Agent Dragneel. The tall, shaggy-haired man had been working under Chief Manson for a considerable number of years now, serving as a top field agent and tactical operation specialist.

His friend to Lucy's left was Fullbuster—a well-groomed brunette whose IQ exceeded that of any of his coworkers. He was best with computers and numbers, and people joke that if he so wanted, he could wreck the entire country with just a click of his mouse. Looking at him, Lucy wasn't so sure she would argue the rumor.

Lucy had never spoken to either of them personally, but she knew of them well enough from talking to Erza—who described Fullbuster as an okay guy, but Dragneel as arrogant and conceded, too confident in his own accomplishments thus far.

Erza had never led her astray yet, plus she was pretty sure they'd attended the Academy at the same time, so Lucy trusted her judgment.

"I want to believe in you, so I'm setting aside my usual caution," Chief continued, and not a muscle in his face flickered as he stared each of them down. "I trust you to get this job done right, and in order for this to work," he took a deep breath, looking as if he was preparing for all hell to break loose.

"Fullbuster, you will assigned to be Heartfilia's brother. Heartfilia and Dragneel will pose as a young married couple."

Lucy's stomach dropped and it felt as if her heart had leaped to her throat.

Married?

Looking over to Fullbuster, she saw that he was trying hard to bite back his grin while Dragneel sat with his eyes wide and jaw slack.

"Her _husband_?" the man exclaimed, sitting straight up in his chair. "Are we even sure she's old enough to work here?" He thrust his thumb in Lucy's direction. "No offense, but she looks like she should still be in high school, Chief!"

"Offense taken!" Lucy exclaimed, glaring at him. "I'm twenty-four, I'll have you know!"

"Oh well in that case congratulations!" Drangeel snarled. "You hear that Chief? Twenty-four! I'll let the secretary know to start planning her retirement party here soon!"

"Look pal," she snapped. "I might be young but I can handle myself! I've earned my spot here so I'd appreciate it if you'd shut your damn mouth!"

Chief rubbed at his temples, looking to Fullbuster who only shrugged at him. Sighing, the old man muttered, "You may now kiss the bride."

He quickly stood and headed for the door, leaving the agents with the three folders containing their new mission—as a family.

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 **Please review! I always love hearing what you guys have to say(:**


	2. Aliases and Photoshop

**a/n: this story is basically just a stress relief from my other projects, so apologies if it's not up to par with some of my other things. and also thank you so much for all of your kind words so far! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it(: Chapter 3 will be posted on Sunday!**

disclaimer: I own nothing

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Dragneel snatched his folder from the table and stood, stalking to the door after Chief and not even so much as glancing at either Lucy or Fullbuster before slamming it shut behind him. Slowly, wordlessly, the young woman unzipped her bag while reaching for her own folder, placing it in the middle pocket. She was too overwhelmed to read it now so she'd save it for a time when she could be alone to collect her thoughts.

Lucy looked up only when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and saw that it belonged to Fullbuster.

"Don't worry about Natsu," he said, trying to comfort her but it was obvious to the blonde that he didn't spend much time socializing with others. He most likely spent most of his time behind his computer screens.

He stood and offered a hand to help her up, and while Lucy got to her feet the man had already grabbed his coffee and tucked the folder under his arm. "He's just a bit shocked is all, the guy doesn't take surprises very well."

"Never would've guessed," Lucy mumbled, causing Fullbuster to grin and shrug in a _what-can-ya-do_ sort of way.

"I better go after him, make sure he reads up on the mission."

"Or prevent him from doing something that'll wind up with him being fired?"

He smirked, nodding at Lucy once as if sizing her up. "Yeah, I guess. Whichever comes first."

He looked down at her, patting her once on the back before following his partner out the door. "See ya around, _sis_."

Erza met Lucy at the door, catching the blonde off-guard.

"I thought you said to meet at your desk?" Lucy frowned, adjusting her bag so that it sat in a more comfortable position. Erza wasn't paying attention, however, her eyes staring a hole through the top corner of the folder that was peaking out of the blonde's bag.

"No," the redhead groaned, lifting her good hand to rub at her tired eyes.

"What is it?" Lucy asked worriedly, leading her down the hall and in the direction of her own desk, where hopefully Erza would decide to sit down and rest—if at least for a little while.

Erza was used to long nights, the other woman knew, but the poor thing looked as if she hadn't slept in days. "What did you need to talk about?"

That snapped her out of it.

She was alert again as she stopped to grasp Lucy's arm with her good hand, making the blonde look at her.

"Listen Lucy," she said, her voice hoarse and sounding completely worn out. "Please, _please_ tell me that Natsu's storm out of here had nothing to do with your meeting."

Lucy's expression gave her away, but she decided to give a response anyway.

With a light, hopeless shrug she answered, "Apparently we're married now."

Erza leaned against a nearby cubicle, eyes closed and mouth pursed in a tight line. Her voice was low, monotone and tired as she asked a question she already knew the answer to.

"Deep cover mission?"

Lucy nodded before realizing her friend's eyes were still closed. "Yes," she replied in a small voice, worried for the other woman.

"Orecion Seis?"

"Chief has faith," Lucy managed, pausing to really think about it. _At least, I think he does._ "He thinks the three of us can take them out." She was barely able to get the sentence out before Erza's arms were around her, wrapping her good arm tightly around Lucy's shoulders.

"Erza?" she said, growing worried. Erza had a reputation around the floor as being one of the best in the agency at hiding her emotions—almost to a scary degree. It was why she was best at interrogation and getting the most out of convicts, so this behavior was abnormal to say the least.

"Be. Careful." the older woman ordered, voice tense as she spoke through clenched teeth. Her eyes are what gave her away though. Erza was scared.

 _Scared of what though?_

"I don't understand."

"Just," she closed her eyes tight and took a deep breath through her nose, exhaling from her mouth before opening her eyes. "This isn't going to be an easy mission, okay? You can't just work for the day and then kick back at your apartment when the sun goes down. This will take time and work. It's a very serious commitment."

At the word 'commitment' Lucy's mind flashed to a pair of wedding rings, a prop that she'd soon have to wear on a regular basis. She inwardly cringed as her friend continued.

"This will be _dangerous_ , Lucy."

Lucy tried hard to remind herself that the redhead meant well. Erza's always had a guardian complex, ever since their first stake-out together when they'd spent an entire night watching an old, rundown apartment complex (that had ended up being long since abandoned, but the bureau hadn't been aware of that at the time). Regardless, the two had bonded in those seventeen hours and Erza'd become like an older sister ever since they'd grown close over their similar family backgrounds.

"Obviously no mission is ever a safe one, Erza. You know that."

She nodded grimly. "Exactly, I _know_. Orecion Seis is not one to be taken lightly, they just killed seven of our best agents," Lucy's eyes widened, but Erza continued, "including-" she swallowed hard before clearing her throat, shaking her head. "Just… just be careful out there, alright?"

Lucy hummed in response, squaring her shoulders and placing her hand reassuringly on the young woman's shoulder. "I'll be careful. I _will_ come back, stop worrying so much."

Erza nodded slowly, as if processing the words despite the fact that she wished they didn't need to be said in the first place. Allowing a melancholy grin to pull at her lips, Erza pulled her in again for a hug, this time much more gentle than the first bone-crushing one.

Lucy realized that it was her way of a farewell, seeing as how the redhead was never good with goodbyes. She normally did them in a more unconventional way.

"Good," she said, pulling away to grin—really grin—at Lucy for the first time since yesterday. "Because if you don't come back alive, I am so bringing you back just so I can kick your ass."

Like that.

* * *

In the grand scheme of things, Lucy supposed that it could be said the city they'd been assigned to had a reasonably low crime rate when compared to nearby counties. However, she figured the mayor wouldn't exactly be handing out any keys the city to any model citizens anytime soon either.

The house they'd be sanctioned in was a cozy, cabin-like house with _three_ bedrooms, thank God. Just because they were pretend married didn't mean Lucy wanted to be within three feet of Dragneel when she didn't have to be. The house had been refurbished recently by the government after being part of an on-going investigation that had been wrapped up almost a year and a half ago, so the bureau had been kind enough to set them up there, located just on the outskirts of downtown Denver.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had just pulled into the driveway behind Lucy's rental, and the blonde heard the slamming of a car door before Fullbuster let out a low whistle upon seeing the property. Lucy had to nod her agreement, it really was a nice setup. Dragneel, on the other hand, brushed right past the blonde, carrying a gym bag on one shoulder and a rolling suitcase at his heels. He spared the front door not a second look before barging right into her- _their_ -new home.

Lucy turned, grumbling before popping the trunk to unload the rest of her things.

Walking across the threshold a short time later, Lucy looked around the interior of the house. The inside wasn't nearly as impressive as the out, but still nice. She supposed that it was expected of Natsu and Lucy Dragion-their aliases-to own cheapish furniture since they were 'newly married'.

Since they hadn't divided up rooms yet, she left her bags at the door and walked to the living room area where on the wall it looked as if she and Dragneel had been high school sweet hearts. Blown up images of them were framed, ranging from high school graduation where their arms were wrapped around each other, to their wedding day where he was smirking at the camera lens as he shoved cake in his new bride's face.

Lucy picked up one that sat on the end table that showed a vacation that wasn't real. She was standing in front of the Hollywood sign, Dragneel's arm wrapped around her waist while it looked as if he was pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Fullbuster was in this one too, shirtless with his jacket wrapped around his waist as he threw a peace sign to the camera.

Photoshop was a wonderful, terrible thing, Lucy decided, and the person behind the pictures was a master of the craft.

"Pretty impressive, aren't they?" she heard a voice coming from the doorway just as she sat the frame down. It was Dragneel, who looked as if he was carrying a heavy cardboard box. "Gray did an awesome job."

Lucy was pretty sure her eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. " _He_ did these? They're amazing!"

She whipped around, fully set to ask more questions, when she was taken a bit aback at her colleague's appearance.

Dressed in worn jeans an a purple hoody, his hair ungelled and resting in his eyes, it was the most casual that Lucy had ever seen him.

He was wearing _Converse_ for crying out loud.

 _Though, I guess it's just because it's the first time I've seen him out of a suit,_ she reasoned with herself. _If you don't count the photoshop images that Fullbuster created._

Then again, she supposed the man in front of her wasn't the same man from the bureau. This was Natsu _Dragion_... which, made her Lucy Dragion.

She had a part to be playing.

Dragneel blew at the hair in front of his eyes before lifting his chin, motioning to first her bags and then the stairs.

"Take the master," he told her, brushing by on his way to what Lucy assumed was a ground level bedroom, but she couldn't be for sure since she'd yet to check out the rest of the house.

She raised a brow at his retreating figure. She'd fully expected to have to fight him for it, or at the very least flip a coin. Not even a best of two-outta-three in rock-paper-scissors?

However, as she began to pile her things together, Lucy grinned to herself at the thought of not having to share a room with her asshole of a husband.

 _Far be it from me to argue._

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 **Please review! I always love hearing what you guys have to say(:**


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